IGA (supermarkets)
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| IGA | |
 |
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| Type of Company | Supermarket |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1926 |
| Headquarters | Poughkeepsie, New York |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, produce, seafood, snacks, liquor |
| Website | http://www.iga.com/ |
IGA is a name used by many independent grocery stores throughout the world. It has since expanded to the world's largest voluntary supermarket chain, where the IGA banner is licensed in 45 countries and territories to over 4000 independent supermarkets served by 37 independent distributors. Because there are no periods in the IGA sign, some people refer it as "iga."
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[edit] United States
IGA, Independent Grocers Alliance, Independent Grocers Association, or Independent Grocers of America was started in the United States in May of 1926 when a group of 100 independent retailers in Poughkeepsie, New York, and Sharon, Connecticut, led by J. Frank Grimes, began operating as the Independent Grocers Association. This group quickly expanded and by the end of the year, there were more than 150 IGA retailers. In 1930 there were over 8000 grocery stores licensed with the IGA name. The company uses the "Hometown Proud Supermarkets" slogan.
Bozzutos is a major supplier to IGA.[1]
[edit] Canada
In Canada, IGA is a group of independent grocers supplied by Sobeys, which franchises the name. Acquired by Sobeys as part of its purchase of The Oshawa Group Ltd., it now operates primarily in Quebec. The IGA operations in Atlantic Canada were sold to Loblaw Companies Limited and were restructured under its existing brands, while its company owned stores west of Quebec now mainly operate under the Sobeys banner.
 An IGA store in Vancouver, British Columbia. |
[edit] Australia
Independent Grocers of Australia is a union of independent Australian supermarkets trading under a single name affiliated with IGA in the United States. They are an alternative to the main Australian supermarkets Coles and Woolworths/Safeway.
As a side note, IGA brand products are known for their low manufacturing and purchasing cost, making them popular among family-owned restaurants that are just starting out and are unable to afford higher-cost products due to lack of business or inability to overcome the cost-profit ratio of said higher-cost foods. Their food and products may be cheap and have different packaging, but some are made from the companies of the well known foods. An example: You could buy IGA Weet-Bix that are cheaper than Sanitarium Weet-Bix, yet they are both made by Sanitarium.
On May 1, 2006, IGA grew to include locally owned supermarkets around Australia, including Dewsons, 'Action' and SupaValu
